Lophiodon

Lophiodon is an extinct genus of large herbivorous mammals that lived during the Eocene. Its fossils are known mainly from Europe, and it was related to tapirs.

Connect

Perissodactyla: An order of hoofed mammals with an odd number of toes, including horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs. Lophiodon belongs to this order of odd-toed mammals.
Lophiodon buchsowillanum: A species of Lophiodon known from Eocene fossils in Europe. This named species provides a more specific example within the genus.
Lutetian: A stage of the Eocene lasting approximately 48 to 41 million years ago. Many European Lophiodon fossils come from deposits of this age.
Tapiridae: The mammal family containing living tapirs and their close fossil relatives. Tapiridae provides a living comparison for Lophiodon’s evolutionary affinities.
Tapiromorpha: A group of perissodactyl mammals that includes tapirs and their extinct relatives. This broader branch places Lophiodon near tapirs and other extinct forms.
Lophiodon cuvieri: A species of Lophiodon identified from fossil material in Europe. It shows how fossil classifications divide the genus into distinct species.
Paris Basin: A broad sedimentary basin in northern France containing rocks from several geological periods. Its Eocene deposits preserve important remains of Lophiodon and other mammals.
Coryphodon: An extinct genus of large herbivorous mammals that lived in the Paleocene and Eocene. Its similar size and age invite comparison, though it was not a close perissodactyl relative.
Eocene: A geological epoch spanning about 56 to 34 million years ago. Lophiodon lived during this interval of warm climates and expanding mammal diversity.
Fossil: Preserved remains or traces of organisms from the geological past. Lophiodon’s anatomy and distribution are reconstructed from fossil evidence.